Once you see these results—and in one appendix table, real income falls for every income group, 1989-2007 (so…um…where did the economy’s growth go?)—your best move is to say, “we have proved that given data constraints, we are unable to reliably impute income including yearly changes in asset valuations.” That’s actually a helpful finding. To plough ahead without that introspection, and to claim your findings reveal “dramatic” reductions in inequality suggests either methodological carelessness or an ideological thumb on the scale.On the Economy
When the Results Look Weird, Check the Methods…Carefully!
Jared Bernstein | Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
(h/t Mark Thoma at Economist's View)
Another biased study, where the outcome is fixed by choice of assumptions and method, like the arithmetic not adding up.
